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Judge Claude Frollo
"Frollo" redirects here due to this wiki's particular subject. For the original literary version, see Claude Frollo. Judge Claude Frollo is the main antagonist of Disney's 34th full-length animated feature film, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is a religious fanatic who uses his position as the Minister of Justice in the city of Paris to enrich himself and persecute those he considers inferior, especially the city's Gypsies. It must be noted that in Victor Hugo's famous 1831 novel Notre Dame de Paris (on which the Disney film was inspired), Frollo is not exactly a judge, but the Archdeacon of the cathedral of Notre Dame. Disney Studios probably made Frollo a judge to avoid controversy and to have a chance to tone up his evil actions. Indeed, the Disney version of the character is notoriously different from his book counterpart and far, far more evil. He was voiced by the late legendary actor Tony Jay, who also played Shere Khan in Disney's The Jungle Book 2, and Monsieur D'Arque in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Personality Frollo is a malevolent, sadistic, and cruel individual who takes pleasure in lording his power over the weak and helpless. He is the "monster" from the introduction song The Bells of Notre Dame (normal-looking and respected yet evil), in stark contrast with the "man" represented by Quasimodo (ugly and shunned yet selfless). The only genuine emotions Frollo displays are either malice or petty satisfaction. Frollo found Quasimodo as a baby, and was prepared to kill the deformed child until the Archdeacon stopped him. Frollo reluctantly took Quasimodo in out of a selfish fear for his own soul, and keeps him hidden in the bell tower of Notre Dame, where he insults and demeans him, treating him as if he is less than human. Frollo is obsessed with "purifying" the world from "corruption" - meaning anyone who looks, thinks or acts differently than him. As such, he despises celebrations such as the Festival of Fools, which he regards as useless and degrading. To him, everything and everyone outside the "natural order" is a stain that must be removed. Frollo regards himself as a paragon of virtue above all blame. In his twisted point of view, he is the purest person alive and everyone else is in the wrong, otherwise seeking to "corrupt" him. Although he does fear damnation more than anything, his delusion is so strong that he keeps persuading himself that his faults are an innocent person's doing, during the scarce moments he could have realized the error of his ways. No matter how often the Archdeacon, a moral authority, reminds him of the Christian values of caring and compassion, he can only understand a logic of punishment. Because of this, Frollo regards his lust for Esmeralda as a "spell" meant to damn his soul and fabricates absurd justifications for his murder of Quasimodo's mother. He quickly becomes obsessed with submitting Esmeralda to his will (reasoning that he can have her if he gets her to "repent"), being ready to burn thousands of innocents in the process. By the end of the film, he becomes so unhinged that he no longer fears damnation, persuading himself that his enemies are the most degenerate and wicked ones who must get punished. Reception Frollo has left a lasting impact on audiences, being remembered as one of the darkest Disney villains (if not the darkest), as his crimes include trying to kill a baby simply for being ugly, expressing clear genocidal intentions in regards to gypsy population in Paris, and trying to burn an innocent family alive just to set an example. Also, the sexual element of his character is otherwise almost unheard of for an animated Disney character. It is also heavily implied that he is responsible for the deaths of countless numbers of gypsies and other innocent citizens. At the same time, however, Frollo is arguably the most complex and human Disney villain as he does have an internal conflict, as well as a distinct fear for his soul, which he fails to listen to due to his delusional denial of his own sins. Some even find him sympathetic, and wish he had redeemed himself or even ended up with Esmeralda. This may have something to do with the book, where he is significantly less malevolent and legitimately is sympathetic. In addition, Frollo's conflict with the Archdeadcon of Notre Dame (who is meant to embody the good aspects of Frollo's character in the novel) has been regarded as mirroring the conflict between pure religion (loving, welcoming and generous) and fanaticism (hateful, oppressive and violent). An official poll of the Top 30 Disney Villains placed him in the #10 spot, and the Nostalgia Critic gave him the #4 spot on his personal Top 11 list. Also, his Villain Song "Hellfire" is widely praised as one of the very best, greatly contributing to his popularity. (Oddly enough, some people even overlook his villainy due to having enjoyed the song so much.) Despite (and, given the absurd nature of the phenomenon, likely because of) being such a dark character, Frollo is the second most popular Disney character in the Youtube Poop community, next to Gaston. The "Hellfire" scene in particular is a very popular source, again despite and perhaps because of being so dark. The most notable YTP work starring Frollo is "The Frollo Show" by YouTuber Chincherrinas where he is portrayed as the main protagonist and is best friends with Gaston. Other Appearances ''Kingdom Hearts Dream: Drop Distance'' Judge Claude Frollo serves as a villain in the video game Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. In this mix of the Disney and Square Enix multiverses, he is confronted in the world La Cité des Cloches (French for The City of Bells), depicting a medieval Paris around Notre Dame Cathedral. As Sora and Riku, the primary protagonists, are travelling separately to fully restore the Sleeping Worlds from Darkness, they end up in La Cité des Cloches, where they both witness different events of the movie. In this version, Frollo is voiced by Corey Burton. Riku first arrives when Phoebus is chasing Esmeralda at Frollo's command, but denies having seen her running away. As Frollo is scolding Phoebus, Esmeralda befriends Riku, telling him about Frollo's genocidal quest and directs him to Notre Dame. While initially sympathetic to Frollo, having himself fallen in Darkness, Riku realizes the abuses he puts Quasimodo through and encourages the bell-boy to follow his heart. Meanwhile, Frollo accosts Sora, believing him to be a gypsy due to the clothes he wears. As Phoebus suddenly barges in, reporting that monsters have invaded the town, Sora deduces that he speaks about Dream Eaters and rushes to fight them, followed by Phoebus who worries that he is but a kid. Left alone, Frollo starts ranting against all the "threats to law and order" he spent his life fighting. They witness Quasimodo, crowned Kings of Fools as in the movie, riding Dream Eaters. Frollo's arrival causes the Dream Eaters to go berserk, and Sora confronts them as Esmeralda helps Quasimodo go back to the cathedral. Upon venturing into Notre Dame, Sora witnesses Quasimodo help Esmeralda escape from the guards that prevent her from leaving the cathedral's sanctuary, then Frollo ruining Quasimodo's self-esteem with false kindness. As Riku is searching for Frollo, hoping to save him from Darkness, he witnesses him trying to burn the innocent miller family in their house, with an outraged Phoebus standing against him to defend them. When Frollo summons the powerful Nightmare Dream Eater known as the Wargoyle, delusionally ranting that it is a gift from God to help him "cleanse the world", Riku understands that the fanatic has sunk too low and resolves to stop him. With Phoebus wounded Riku rushes after Frollo alone. While Phoebus has been stripped from his rank, he warns Sora that Frollo is about to invade the Court of Miracles. With Quasimodo's help, they rush there to warn the gypsies, but as in the movie, this is a trap and Frollo barges in after following them. He subdues them with his Nightmares Dream Eaters takes Esmeralda prisoner, indifferent to Quasimodo's desperate pleas, and prepares to burn her at the stake. Sora rushes to stop him, but he has a Dream Eater knock out the boy. When Sora reaches Notre Dame, Quasimodo has already rescued Esmeralda from the stake and is taking her into the cathedral. Riku confronts Frollo atop Notre Dame’s towers, as the unhinged fanatic is gleefully watching Paris burning, and calls him out on his delusion, calling him "a sad old man with a dark heart", but Frollo summons the Wargoyle to "pass judgment". As the monster's appearance knocks him overboard, Frollo falls into the fire while cackling maniacally and yelling "Judgment is mine!" However, he somehow survives, unless the dream in which Sora is present is not the same, which remains unclear. After a short confrontation with Ansem, Seeker of Darkness and Young Xehanort, Riku defeats the Wargoyle and shatters its wing, causing it to fall into the fire. Since Sora must face the now-wingless Wargoyle, hinting that it is the same that fought Riku, he cannot prevent Frollo from barging into the cathedral after his former ward. Just like in the movie, Frollo attacks Quasimodo and Esmeralda with a sword, and reveals the awful truth about Quasimodo's mother's fate, but he fells overboard after Quasimodo dodges his sword strike. As Esmeralda desperately tries to keep Quasimodo from falling, the fanatic climbs the gargoyle while blaspheming, only to fall to his well-deserved doom. Riku In Riku's story, Frollo questions why he bothered summoning Phoebus if he could not find Esmeralda. Frollo is seen trying to "pass judgement" against a family by using the Wargoyle. Luckily, Riku and Phoebus make it in time. Back at Notre Dame, Frollo falls off the balcony, yelling "Judgement is mine!". ''Kingdom Keepers'' In the novel series Kingdom Keepers, Frollo appears in one of the books. He is one of the Overtakers, a group of certain Disney villains that plan to take over all of the Disney parks. He tried to drown one of the Kingdom Keeper kids. He, along with Maleficent and the baddie in charge (Chernabog), are the main Overtakers (along with Evil Queen and Cruella De Vil). Quotes Trivia *Frollo is arguably considered to be Disney's most evil and sinister antagonist to date. In fact, Frollo was meant by Disney Studios to be as evil and as vile as possible, in an attempt to avert the trope "Evil is Cool," common to many Disney villains. Instead, he wound up being a Love to Hate example. *He has the most screentime of any major Disney villain; Frollo is shown for roughly a third of the movie's total runtime. *In the original book by Victor Hugo, Frollo is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame. He is actually caring towards Quasimodo, whom he adopted out of genuine mercy, and his good-for-nothing brother Jehan. But when Esmeralda comes along, Frollo's lust for her results in a slow descent into villainy. *Frollo's genocidal agenda against Gypsies mirrors the Nazi's own genocide against Gypsies (which occurred concurrently to the genocide against European Jews). Like Hitler, Frollo is also an oppressive dictator who rules through fear and intimidation, and has a complete willingness to kill anyone who gets in his way. *When Frollo rages at Quasimodo for helping Esmerelda escape, he tosses the figure of the Gypsy, knocking over a figure of himself in the process. Also, aside from the obvious symbolism he's invoking by burning Esmeralda's figure, there is how he smashes all the other figures and the cathedral model in his rage. Not only does this foreshadow Frollo's villainous breakdown, it specifically shows how he's willing to do anything, such as killing the citizens or attacking the cathedral itself, to ensure that he gets what he wants'''-''' which eventually leads Frollo straight to his downfall. 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